16. Jasper

Jasper

Christmas Day

“ S he’s three days late,” Mitch snaps, running his hand through his hair. He attempts to stand, but I place my hand on his shoulder to keep him on the couch. “Why aren’t you more on edge about this?”

I’ve been lying to Mitch for weeks. Amy and I have been texting, but only because she wants to surprise Mitch today. I helped her secure an apartment here and I helped her move in two days ago. Hiding it from Mitch has been hard on both of us. She’s spending today with Axl and Beth at Beth’s parents’ house. Everyone’s in on it, except Mitch; he’s worse than a kid on Christmas waiting for her to come back to us.

“I’m not freaked out because I know she’s coming.”

“How do you know?” He eyes me suspiciously, but I can’t bring myself to spoil Amy’s surprise.

“Ready to go to the Andersons’?” I deflect. “You can harass Axl there, if you want.”

Mitch turns off the movie we were watching and rushes for the front door. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”

We drive to their house which is next to the Comets. Both homes appear as if they raided the holiday aisle at every store from here to Quebec. Every year, they one-up each other with who has the biggest displays. It’s all in good fun, and both houses are always the most festive in town.

Once we’ve parked, I’m surprised he doesn’t notice the white SUV that doesn’t belong to anyone we know. I smile to myself, listening to Mitch grumble about how today he was supposed to wake Amy up with his face between her legs.

The front door opens before we make it to the entry steps, and Amy comes barrelling towards us. His face lights up brighter than the Christmas decorations on this house, and his arms fly wide. “Aces!” She leaps into his embrace, wrapping her legs around him, as he buries his face in her neck. “Fuck, I missed you, baby. What are you doing here?”

Amy pulls back, cupping his cheeks and kissing him without abandon. “I’m sorry, I wanted to surprise you.”

As sweet as the reunion is, I can only handle so much of these two; they’ve been love-sick since Amy left. “All right, can we go inside? It’s fucking freezing.”

Mitch sets her down and rests his forehead on hers. “Best Christmas present ever.” He’s so wrapped up in her, he hasn’t noticed Amy didn’t acknowledged me yet—he’ll be pissed when he figures out I’ve known she was coming back since the morning she left.

Once inside and our jackets are hung on the coat rack, Amy takes Mitch’s hand and leads him further into the house. She only makes it two steps before stopping to turn, offering me her other hand. “Come on, I have a present for you.”

I admitted to Axl and Beth that Mitch is interested in Amy—though that’s putting it mildly—but I’ve strategically omitted that I am, too. Walking in with the two of them potentially outs our unorthodox situation. I blow out a long breath and take off my hat, placing it on the same hook as my hanging coat.

“Are you sure about this, sweetheart?”

“It’s not like I’m going to ride my cowboy while sucking Mitch’s cock in front of everyone,” she deadpans. “We’re going to spend time with Beth’s family and you’re going to open presents. Everyone knows why I’m here, not only what you told them.”

Mitch pins me with a curious glare. “Hey, how long have you known she’d be here?” When I don’t answer, his gaze becomes murderous.

“No punching best friends on Christmas,” Amy insists. “Jasper only knew because I wanted to surprise you.”

His eyes remain narrowed as he grits out, “I’ve been a fucking mess for days, Jasper.”

“I know. Sorry.” I wince.

I hesitantly take Amy’s hand, and we make our way into the living room where there are significantly more people here than I expected. On top of Axl, Beth, Tristan, and Myles, Jaxon is on the couch with two people. They turn around and my eyes widen at Greta and Troy sitting with him. I’m frozen in shock; things didn’t end great with Beth and Troy. Something about boot fucking. Not to mention Greta and Mitch hooked up earlier this year. With Jen and Tara in the corner laughing, this feels like something out of a bad daytime talk show.

Either I’m here for an intervention, or I’m going to find out I’m not the father of someone’s baby.

Beth’s mom wraps Mitch in a tight hug, then does the same with me. “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Anderson.”

“Please, call me Liv. Can I get you boys something to drink? Amy said Mitch likes tequila, so are we doing shots?” She calls over her shoulder to her husband, “Are you up for tequila, honey?”

“Mom!” Beth sighs, sidling up beside her. “Let them settle in before we start tequila. Also, it’s ten in the morning, so at least class it up and make them tequila sunrises.”

We make our way to the kitchen where Beth and Axl prepare a dozen or so drinks. They both took side jobs bartending at Jamie’s Lodge for events, as well as sporadic shifts at The Boos, so I’m not surprised they have our drinks ready in under a minute. The last glass in the line is missing tequila when she pours in the orange juice and grenadine. Suddenly, the idea of a baby daddy reveal doesn’t seem so far off.

Liv passes them out and Axl toasts, “To friends who used to be more, to friends who became more, and to the two horny fuckers who are banging my cousin.”

“Ax!” Beth shrieks, smacking his chest with the back of her hand. “There are children present. ”

He looks around and we all do the same; Amy is the youngest person here. “What kids?” She places his hand on her belly, and Axl gasps, a wide grin painting his face. “Are you serious?”

Called it.

“Yeah, we’re having a baby.” Beth takes a sip of her tequila sunrise, and he quickly snatches it from her. “It’s virgin! Unlike anyone in this room.”

Everyone laughs, and while they are celebrating Beth’s announcement, I’m lost in thought. Would Amy want to have kids? I know Mitch does, and so do I, but does our girl? It could complicate things down the road.

As if reading my mind, Amy tucks into my side and kisses me on the cheek, whispering, “Don’t worry, cowboy. That’s not in the cards anytime soon. But we can practise a lot until we’re ready.”

Mitch leans in and adds, “Oh, I’m totally putting a baby in you.”

“Good luck with that,” she chuckles, squeezing me tighter. “Are you ready for your presents?”

We make our way to the tree where there is a small box about the size of a shoebox for me and a larger one for Mitch. He rips his open first and bursts into laughter. I peek over and inside is what appears to be a five-gallon bucket. As he pulls it out, Tristan and Beth laugh even harder—it’s fucking lube.

“You know, for all the butt stuff!” Tristan yells.

Next to him, Myles grumbles, “At least Amy had a warning before it was delivered. I wasn’t given the same courtesy.”

Mitch puts it back in the box and kisses Amy. “Thanks, baby.”

Liv is beside herself in laughter, drinking her second tequila sunrise—likely not her first drinks of the day. I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop, since everyone is a little too happy, considering the company.

“Open yours next,” Amy suggests, sitting on my lap. With one hand, I rip the wrapping paper and open the box, it’s red jute similar to the one she found in my Christmas decorations. I quickly close the box before anyone can see. “You know, for hanging wreaths .”

I fucking love this woman.

Yeah, I said it. She stole my heart the day I met her and kept it.

“Thank you for the gift that will keep on giving, to, uh… help with tying up my holiday decor .” I then whisper, “I’m so tying you up like a damn present for Mitch tonight.”

“I better be hogtied, or I don’t want it.”

Who needs presents when I have Amy?